Hungary to reopen embassy in Tanzania after over 30 years

Dar es Salaam. After more than 30 years since the closure of the Hungarian embassy in Tanzania, the country is in the final stages of reopening diplomatic offices as part of agreements between the two nations to enhance diplomatic relations.

This was revealed yesterday during the visit of Hungary’s Foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, who visited the country and held discussions with his host, Tanzanian minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, January Makamba.

Mr Szijjarto, who is the first foreign minister of his country to visit Tanzania in over 30 years, stated that recognizing the importance and cooperation between Tanzania and Hungary, they will reinstate embassy offices starting next month.

In addition to reopening embassy offices, he said his country would be ready to collaborate with and assist Tanzania in various areas including technology, education, and water, as Hungary has sufficient expertise in these areas.

“The relationship between Hungary and Tanzania has existed for a long time, but challenges in between led to the closure of our embassy. We will return next month to further develop our friendship and cooperation in a variety of areas..

“There are many areas in which we can collaborate and assist based on our experience and progress, for example in the water sector, where we have sufficient technology and expertise that we can provide to Tanzania to assist in one way or another,” he said.

The discussions also included the signing of agreements and cooperation documents in the water sector, where Hungary will provide various technologies in water resource management.

In his remarks, Mr Makamba said the visit aims to enhance relations and cooperation between the two countries, adding that they have already discussed areas to strengthen their cooperation, including the water sector, for which they have signed a cooperation agreement.

“Our counterparts are renowned globally for their advanced water management technology, whether it’s floods, wastewater, or clean water. Through these agreements, they will share this technology with us and assist us in various aspects of the water sector,” said Mr Makamba.

He mentioned other areas discussed in his talks with Mr Szijjarto, including trade cooperation, where they agreed to share business and investment opportunities available in both countries.

“In terms of trade, we have agreed to have close cooperation between the private sectors of Tanzania and Hungary, meaning traders will go there and vice versa, and there will be trade forums.

“We have also agreed in the area of tourism since they have a large number of tourists and we have attractions. To achieve this, we must strengthen transportation, and in that regard, we have agreed to have direct flights from Hungary to Tanzania,” said Mr Makamba.

The minister also explained that another area of cooperation discussed was increasing funding in education, where Tanzania has requested an increase in the number of scholarships for students to study in Hungary from the current allocation of 30 people per year.